Where it all started
by Silverlionessdreamer
Summary: Hermione wakes up, in a unfamiliar flat, naked, and discoveres a half naked Draco Malfoy and that she spend the night with him, but she remembers nothing from it. Is Malfoy telling the truth? It is nothing like the ordinary ones!
1. I

**A/N I know, I know; it has been long since I update anything. School had been drawing my attention. I hope you like it. Read and Review! By the way, this is not the ordinary Draco-and-Hermione-wake-up-in-the-same-room-fic.**

Hermione slowly opened her eyes and let them adjust to the light. The sound of water woke her up. She was in an unfamiliar room, lying on her back in a bed. She brought herself up, leaning on her right arm. The blanket that was on her chest fell off and to her embarrassment she was entirely naked, except for her black thong. What happened? She quickly jumped out of the bed and looked around the room for her clothes. She found them in a pile next to the wardrobe. While she was putting them on, the sound of running water stopped. She looked at the bed she had spent the night in. The sheets were a mess. It proved what she thought: she had slept with someone. A one night stand. She couldn't believe it. All of her life she had controlled everything; she wasn't the type to seek comfort in alcohol and a warm body. Then the realisation hit her: Ron broke up with her. She had been sad and lonely, not knowing what to do with herself she went to the nearest pub and got drunk. Now that she thought about it; her head did ached a little.

She tried her hardest to recall what happened, but it was all black. Who was here with her? Did she really sleep with him? Wait, where was her wand? She quickly felt her pockets, but her wand wasn't there. She started searching in the room, under the pillows, but she couldn't find it. At this point she started to panic; a witch without a wand is defenceless.

'Are you looking for this?' a too familiar voice asked. It was the voice she hoped never to hear again. Slowly she turned around and her worst fear was confirmed: there in the doorway of the bathroom, leaned a man against the doorframe; she hoped never to see again; wearing nothing but a white towel, tied around his waist; revealing his muscular chest, his right hand holding her wand.

'Give it back,' Hermione said, feeling ashamed and disgusted at the same time. She hadn't had sex with this man, it was impossible. But then again, the headache suggests a hangover which made Hermione unable to recall. The man said nothing, but smirked, toying with her wand.

'Give it back now, so I can leave and never come back,' Hermione said more threatened. She hoped that he gave her her wand back, so that she could leave and rethink this entire disaster.

'That is not what you wanted last night,' he said, grinning widely.

'I doubt it,' Hermione answered; there must have been a misunderstanding from his side.

'Really? Well I doubt that,' he replied, making Hermione feel more disgusted. Every fibre in her body wanted her wand back; her wand gave her the power to control this situation. But she wasn't going to beg, never in her life was she going to beg him.

'Just give me back my wand,' she said annoyed and held up her hand. He stopped toying with her wand and slowly walked towards her. His six foot two towered above her, but her Gryffindor courage had never failed her, neither did it fail this time.

'You'd better give back my wand, or else you will be sorry you didn't,' Hermione said and tried to take it from his hand, but he held it just out of her reach. He made a disapproving sound.

'I had expected more of you,' he said laughing. It pissed Hermione off. He was laughing at her! Angrily she crossed her arms in front of her chest. What was he thinking?

'Give it back, or else,' she said threateningly. He slowly lowered her wand and she grabbed it. Maybe she was mistaking, but Hermione thought that she saw lust in his eyes, which was ridiculous of course. She gave him a goodbye nod and was planning on apparating, but she had to know something.

'Did we have sex?' she asked and looking him in the eye.

'You couldn't keep your hands off me,' he answered smiling, probably looking back at the thought. Hermione, who was usually quite certain wherever someone lied to her or not, didn't know wherever she was being lied to. But the feeling in the pit of her stomach made her think he was telling the truth. Revolted with herself, she didn't want to stay a second longer in that particular room, apparated to her own apartment in the middle of London; leaving a somewhat disappointed Draco Malfoy alone in the very same room she just escaped.

OoOoOo

Draco watched Hermione dissapparate before his eyes. He should have known it; the only thing she needed was her wand. He smiled when he thought about last night; he wasn't lying. Okay, maybe he wasn't telling the complete truth, but he couldn't help it. It was such a good moment for teasing her. He would tell her sooner or later what had really happened, but not now.

Draco went into his favourite pub last night where he had found, entirely unexpected, Hermione, completely drunk, dancing on a table. He had changed his life completely after the war; he was helping the wizarding world with rebuilding. Helping her would have been a good deed, and besides; he couldn't let her make a complete fool out of herself, could he? So being a true gentleman he brought her to his apartment in the heart of London and placed her in his bed. Apparently she was so drunk that she couldn't stand normally and he had to support her. When he laid her down on the bed, she didn't want him to let go. He had always thought that she was petite, but he had never believed that she was that strong, which surprised him. When she fell asleep, still holding his hand, he was able to escape her firm grip. Still surprised about the strength in her hand, he walked to the couch, in the living room, with a blanket and a pillow and tried to sleep there.

He was more than fascinated that in the middle of the night he woke up, because he heard something in the bed room and when he took a look, he found her pulling off her own clothes, excepted for her black thong, which fitted absolutely beautiful on her butt, and went back to bed. All the fascinations he had about her weren't nearly as good as seeing her naked, all right, half naked, but it didn't leave much to the imagination. He stood up and placed her wand, which was too valuable to stay on the ground like that, on the dresser; near the bathroom door, before going back to the couch. Draco was barely able to sleep that night. He imagined what she could do more with her hand, her fingers; her nails. He could feel her fingers running down his stomach, running lower until they reached the right spot.

He would never tell anyone and denied it when someone said it to him, but if he was honest to himself; he did fantasize about her. How could he not? Okay the busy hair and the big teeth where really a turn down, but after fourth year she looked hot. When he had nothing better to do in class he would fantasize about her, while stupid Pansy Parkinson (his wannabe girlfriend at the time; it was just the sex and no feeling involved, at least not from his side) believed he was thinking about her. Nevertheless he paid extra attention to everything he said and did, making sure no one ever caught him. Until present day, nobody did. She was beautiful, although she never realized it herself.

The next morning he woke up early, surprised that he had slept at all, cleaned up his improvised bed and dove into the shower. It wasn't when he re-entered the bedroom that he found her awake, clearly suffering from a hangover, all though he wasn't sure that she was aware of that, searching for her wand. He smiled at her surprised and disgusted look, clearly drawing the wrong conclusions about what happened. He had picked it up where he left it last night and intended not to give it back before she begged.

But when she crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking angry, he could do nothing else but surrender and give her back her wand. She looked smoking hot when she was angry, he had noticed the past years. He knew that he was lost. He couldn't resist and he couldn't risk getting turned on, for he was only wearing a towel. So he gave her back her wand, but he knew for sure that he hadn't seen the last of her.

Smirking he changed into his work clothing and cleaned everything up. After that he went to work; he was a Healer in St. Mungo. Most of the time it were just boring problems, which were easily solved; but he would manage to get through today, with the image of Hermione Granger half naked on his mind. He even whistled going to work; something he had never done before.

**A/N Reviewing will make me update faster! Make my day!**


	2. II

**A/N I had no review, as in none. That pains me, al lot. But, forgiving as I am, I'm uploading chapter 2. I will not upload chapter 3 when I don't have 10 reviews. That can't be so hard can it? Make my day.**

Was it noticeable that she had, most likely, had sex with her former enemy and now co-worker; which she couldn't remember, but most desperately tried to recall? Hermione thought while she was looking at the small girl on the bed in front of her, who held the hand of her mother tight. The girl was about seven years old.

'Healer Granger, will I be alright?' asked the girl frightened. Hermione placed her working smile on her face and said:

'Of course, you have only broken your arm, and that is why it has gotten bruised. Don't you worry; it will be fixed before you know it.' After an hour the girl skipped out of the room, followed by the mother. Hermione sighed and started to fill in some papers. She couldn't concentrate; he mind was going back three days ago, trying desperate to recall what really happened. All she remembered that she came home and found Ron in the living room (which was quite unusual because he finished work after her) and he told her that it wasn't working. Apparently, he began to feel something for someone else and without further ado he left her, confused, sad, angry but most off all: lonely. She always thought that Ron was the one. After she woke up in Draco's apartment (it had to be, no hotel room would look homey and that comfortable) she realized that she loved Ron, but not enough to be all heartbroken about the break-up. Strangely it felt natural, as if it was meant to be.

She sighed; this wasn't working and she was hungry as well. She might as well take a break and finish the paperwork later. She closed the file and walked to the elevator. When it arrived she got in, alone. She pressed the button for the fifth floor, for the cafeteria. Just when the doors were about to close, a hand stopped them and when they reopened, Draco Malfoy stepped in. Oh no! Not him, everybody but not him, she thought, but her prayers weren't heard. When he saw her, he smiled and obviously recalled what happened three nights ago. Well then it must have been good, she thought and immediately slapped herself mentally. That is what you are thinking about a former enemy and somebody who you slept with three nights ago. She quickly closed off her mind. His eyes didn't leave hers and she quickly looked away, not wanting to be more humiliated than she already was. Why had she forgotten he was a Healer too? If she had remembered she would have taken a day or two off. Right away she knew she would never take a day off anyway.

'What a fine day, is it not?' he asked politely. It had been raining this morning when she left and her office (a small one she shared with other Healers) had no windows, thus she had no idea what the weather was like. But she lived in Britain; it was most likely still raining. What an odd thing to ask anyway when you're inside all day. Or maybe he was asking how her day was. Hermione felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment that she didn't think of that earlier.

'Yes, lovely, thank you for asking,' she answered as politely as he had. Ever since he changed sides after (well technically during) the war ended, he helped to rebuild the wizarding world. His father went to Azkaban for three years, which was a very short period, but that was because Harry had been too kind, and Mr. Malfoy lived quietly with his wife ever after. Their son, on the other hand, did everything he could to be liked by people, although it didn't look as if he was trying too hard to be liked. He had his charms; even Hermione had to admit that. He started to be polite to her and in return she acted civil to him. But that was it; there would never be something like friendship, or love, not in the smallest case.

'Did you have any interesting cases this morning?' he asked, turning his head towards her and Hermione could feel his eyes wander on her face. She didn't look at him. He was purposely trying to humiliate her even more; couldn't he tell she was already embarrassed. Normally he wouldn't be asking her this much question; it only stayed with "Hello" and "Good day" and very rarely "How are you?" "Fine, thanks for asking, how are you?" "I'm fine, thank you" and that was it. Why was he asking her?

'No, some children with the flu and one who had broken her arm,' she answered still not looking at him. 'You?' always trying to be polite, she thought, why can't you just stop? It was easier to work with children they almost never made you feel embarrassed about something. Only those "Do you have a boyfriend?" question were a bit awkward, especially last days when she had to answer no and the children would ask: "Why not?" Because then she had to explain why and that was a subject she'd rather avoided.

'Oh the usual, people who blow parts of themselves up,' answered he. There was one thing Draco Malfoy impressed her with; most Healers work on one floor, but he worked on every floor, but the fifth, and on no floor at the same time. He was needed everywhere, and yet everywhere he was superfluous. He was liked by everyone, both staff and patients, and that made him a perfect Healer.

'Forgive me for saying, but I always thought you were going to be a professor on Hogwarts,' he said and Hermione snapped her head to look at him, luckily he was looking straight ahead of him, so he couldn't see her staring. To say she was utterly surprised was an understatement; she would never imagine him saying such a thing. It was something personal and they didn't share personal things. Hermione looked at his face; even she couldn't deny it, although she had never said it out loud and that would probably never happen, Draco Malfoy was handsome, cute, drop dead gorgeous (as Ginny liked to call him), beautiful and a lot more adjectives she could come up with. His muscular upper body was good, something she got a look at when she saw him wearing nothing but a towel, although it wasn't very visible under the uniform. He could get any girl he wanted; she knew his reputation in Hogwarts and she knew she was just one of the many that never meant anything to him. Nevertheless, that didn't make him less cute.

At that moment her eyes met two silver-grey eyes and she quickly looked away. What was she thinking? Did he know what she thought? Again she felt her cheeks warming up and she heard him chuckle. Oh no, he knew. Shouldn't they be there already; it looked like they were standing decades in that elevator. For the first time her prayers had been hurt and the doors opened.

'Have a nice day,' he said smiling and got out.

'You too,' she muttered and the doors closed again. She had lost her appetite and pushed the button to go down again. She tried herself to calm down, but it wasn't working. There was something in the way that he smiled, because Draco Malfoy was most definitely having some weird effect on her.

OoOoOo

'Timba!' Draco yelled enthusiastic while entering his apartment after coming home from work. The two year old blond Labrador came running towards him.

'Hey girl, come, I'll take you out for a walk,' he said while grabbing the leash. Secretly he had always wanted a dog, they were men best friends, weren't they? A year ago, after he finally settled in his new apartment, he went to the shelter and found her as a one year old puppy, abandoned and Draco fell in love with her. Apparently she fell in love with him too; she listened to everything he said. While he was walking through the park (luckily it was dry), he thought about Hermione Grangers' expression when he entered the elevator today. She looked embarrassed today. He knew he had to tell her what really happened, but maybe it was better for her to think that she wasn't in control for once in her life. Draco made the short walk and was back at his apartment in fifteen minutes. He had just put the bowl, filled with food for Timba, down, when an owl arrived in front of the window in his kitchen. Oh no, he thought, when he recognized the handwriting.

Two months after the war had ended and the wizarding world started to rebuild, Daphne Greengrass, a Slytherin friend, invited him over to her house, to catch up again. When he arrived there he found Blaise Zabine, another Slytherin friend, there too. Apparently he and Daphne got together during the war. Astoria, Daphne's sister, was there as well. Draco could tell that she liked him, a lot. It was too obvious, but it only made him feel more uncomfortable. He tried to tell her the very same evening that he the feeling wasn't mutual, but for some reason she didn't accepted that fact and now she was sending him long letters, which he had to open or something bad would happen (he knew that by personal experience; he didn't open the first letter and he couldn't … Well, yes, bad memory, very bad indeed)

He quickly opened the letter and scanned it. It was the usual stuff; she would write about her day, ask about his, complain she wasn't receiving any answer, begging for an answer and ending it with love. He hated it (not that he hated her, she was just annoying). After he was finished her threw it in the bin and started to make his own diner, with Timba at his feet, begging for more food; which she didn't get, of course. He took his plate and sat down at the table in the kitchen. When he was almost finished, another owl arrived and landed right in front of him, for he had left the window open. It couldn't ... No Astoria wouldn't send him another letter. He untied the letter from the owl's leg and opened it:

_I need to talk to you. Meet me in St. James Park at the Marlborough Gate, in London, at seven 'o clock._

_Hermione Granger_

He reread the note. So she wanted to meet him? He knew what she was going to say. Draco looked around for some paper and found an old recipe from the previous owner (she had been an old lady, who insisted he kept them, so he could learn how to cook properly. He had never done anything with them). It was a recipe for cauliflower, if there was anything he didn't like, it was cauliflower. He wrote a small reply, saying he would be there and gave it back to the owl. When the owl flew away, Draco turned around to find his plate emptied of the last sausage and Timba swallowing the last bit.

'No more sweets for you,' Draco said laughing.

At five to seven Draco arrived at St. James Park, and he walked to the Marlborough gate. When he arrived there he immediately spotted the brunette. She wasn't looking at him. She was sitting on a bench. Draco coughed when he was near her. She quickly turned her head and he saw relief in her eyes when she saw him, but it was almost immediately replaced with humiliation.

'May I sit down?' Draco asked polite. She nodded and he sat down. He leaned back and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

'So … What is it that you want to talk about?' Draco asked playing innocent.

'You know about what!' She hissed and she looked around, as if scared that anyone saw them together.

'Enlighten me,' replied Draco.

'Three nights ago? When I woke up naked in your bedroom,' she whispered cautiously eyeing by passers, sitting tensely on the bench.

'No, you wear wearing a black thong. Nothing wrong with that one, by the way,' Draco answered truthfully and he saw her cheeks redden. He liked it, it made her look cute. She opened her mouth to speak, but she quickly closed it again. Silence fell.

'So, what about that night?' Draco asked after a couple of minutes.

'Tell me what really happened,' she said, close to begging, although she would never admit that. She wanted the truth, he knew that. That couldn't be that hard, could it?

**A/N You know the deal; 10 reviews new chapter. Make my day!**


	3. III

**A/N I know it has taken me a long time to upload again; but my beta is in his senior and is very busy with graduating. Therefore I have taken another beta, whom I'd like to thank for correcting this. I hope you stayed with the story and that you like it.**

Hermione eyed Draco suspiciously. When she had come back into her office, she had quickly realised that she misinterpreted the incident. She just knew something wasn't right, like Draco wasn't telling the truth. The reason she asked him here, right after work, was because she just had to know; she didn't want any more awkward feelings when she was with Draco in one room (actually that was impossible now, knowing Draco had seen her naked). She watched him sit up and she was determined to keep looking at his face; if he was lying she would see it.

'Where do I start? So every Friday evening I go to my favourite pub in London and all of a sudden there I see you, standing on a table, dancing, with a beer. Not that I didn't like the dancing, but you were attracting the majority of the male population in the pub. Before you were taken by a man with a beard, baseball pat and a tattoo all across his face, and believe me: you would have went with him tame as a lamb, I decided to rescue you. So I brought you to my apartment; a hotel room was just too cheap…' totally Draco, she thought, '… Anyway, when I wanted to lay you on my bed and sleep on the couch myself, you didn't want to let go of my hand. I pulled and pulled, but I didn't want to use force, and I had no choice but to lay next to you –'

'Why not stun me? It would have been easier,' she interrupted Draco. For a second he seemed distracted, but he quickly recovered, so fast Hermione didn't know whether what she saw was real.

'I left my wand in the living room. Unlike you I do go out sometimes without a wand. You can say I feel safe enough without. Where was I; a yeah, so I had no choice but to lay next to you. Immediately after I laid down, you started to seduce me, which wasn't a great success if I may add, and tried to take off my shirt. I can tell you; you are quite disorientated and not sexy when you're drunk. I stopped you and you wanted to try to take my pants off, but while trying you fell asleep. I left you there and after five minutes I fell asleep too,' he ended, placing his hands behind his head. There was something in the manner of his speaking, that made Hermione decide that he was telling the truth.

'So we didn't have sex?' Hermione asked just be sure; no mistaking what so ever.

'No. Frankly I didn't want to. Don't get me wrong; you are attractive, just not when you're drunk,' he answered and a load fell of Hermione's shoulders. They didn't have sex. Hermione was so glad that she didn't hear the insult at first. When she realized, she looked angrily at him, but he was just laughing. She didn't know why, but it made her laugh as well. Draco started to grin as well. She sighed in relief.

'I didn't sleep with you, thank Merlin.' She leaned back and relaxed; the awkwardness was gone. She didn't have to feel embarrassed around Draco anymore. Her actions were blameable on alcohol. She had never intended to undress him or to go with that man with a baseball pat, beard and tattoo. Wait, she thought when she thought about what Draco had said, how did she ended up naked in Draco's bed.

'What's wrong? You don't have to regret not sleeping with me,' he said smiling, obviously seeing the change in her facial expression.

'How did I end up naked in your bed?' she asked, more demanding.

'Can I help it that in the middle of the night, you get up and start taking all of you clothes off except for a pretty, nice black thong,' Draco said defending himself.

'Why did you lie?' She looked him right in the eye; why did he lie when she was at his apartment? Why did he tell her that they had slept together?'

'I didn't I just told you the truth.'

'No, before, why did you lie when I was at your apartment?' She asked sitting up right.

'I don't know. I guess old habits die hard-'

'No they don't. Not if you try.' Draco stood up.

'Listen Granger; you want to be in control of everything and guess what: that is impossible. For once I gave you a situation you couldn't control; it was just for you to learn to let things go.'

'No Malfoy, you wouldn't. Actually you could have taken advantage of me while I was drunk-'

'But I didn't, did I? Think about it. See you at work,' he sneered and apparated. He seemed pretty angry and offended. She shouldn't have said anything about the taking advantage thing, but she was getting angry and she just needed to retort. But this was it; no more hard feelings. They would split ways and only see each other on work. Somehow that image didn't suit Hermione. She remembered how good he looked in only a towel and she imagined what he would look like without. She slapped herself mentally; she shouldn't be thinking about him this way. With the forbidden image on her mind she apparated back into her own apartment, not able to remove it from her mind.

OoOoOo

What did she think? Accusing him of taking advantage of her when she had been drunk? To say that Draco was furious would have been an understatement. He didn't know why he felt his strong about it; he shouldn't care about what she had said. Okay, he didn't tell he the complete truth, but enough for her to be satisfied and for him to be able to blackmail her. And why was she so glad that they hadn't slept? He wasn't that bad; he never got any complains. Why was she so repulsive about the idea that they had sex?

Draco took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He wasn't going to let her control his thoughts. He stood in front of the gate of Malfoy Manor; he had promised his parents to come. It was now five days after he had last spoken to Granger. And she was still the main occupation of his mind, but not her words. He had carefully avoided her at work. He just knew that he would say something stupid to her and that would ruin his reputation.

He opened that gate and walked down the path. The garden was much more colourful than it had been when he was a child. Mother had discovered the art of gardening and she would spend hours making every tree, every flower, even every blade of grass, look perfect. Of course it was perfect. He didn't pay much attention to the garden and he reached the enormous house quickly. He opened the double doors and walked in. He stopped for a second. No matter how many Manors there were, he only named this one home. He never showed it to anyone of course, Malfoys don't show emotion, but secretly he liked the Manor, with its many corridors, portraits and rooms.

Draco shook the feeling off, and continued walking to the kitchen. He had a hatch Mother would be there. As he came closer, he heard voices growing louder. He had been right. When he was almost there he could distinguish two voices, both female. That's odd, he though, I didn't expect Mother to have a visitor besides me. He opened the kitchen door and froze on the spot. On the floor, of his kitchen, were his Mother and Hermione, both bended over something, or someone, he couldn't see.

'Granger?' He asked astonished when he recovered (which didn't take more than a second). What was she doing here? He thought.

'Malfoy,' She nodded and then she turned her attention back to house-elf, lying on the floor, he just saw.

'She'll be fine, she just worked too hard. Let her rest.' Both she and Mother stood up and the latter ordered another house-elf to take care of the one on the floor.

'Thank you for helping me Ms. Granger,' Mother said kindly.

'It was my pleasure, Mrs. Malfoy,' answered Hermione. She gave Draco a small nod and disapparated. What was she thinking? Showing up at his house and then leave so abruptly? He thought that she had manners, but apparently she didn't.

'Mother, why was she here?' Draco asked straight to the point. There better had to be a good reason for her being here, but he couldn't think of any.

'Hello Draco, she helped me with Prisky, she suddenly fainted.'

'Yes, I know that, but why was she here?' Draco said, emphasising "she", while he followed his mother to the table and he sat down.

'Ms. Granger was so kind to come for a house-elf. She is a good girl Draco, you should ask her out,' said Mother.

'Yes I know … wait, what? Ask her out? Mother, what? Why? Are you giving me dating advice?' he asked astonished.

'As a mother I just know. Give it a try; you need someone that doesn't do your, ehm, bidding,' said Mother, obviously trying to be subtle. She opened her book, which has been lying on the table, and started reading again. Why would he go out with Granger? Okay she looked good, smoking hot when she was angry, but that wasn't a good reason. He realized that every other girl he had dated always did his bidding. They were feminine, good looking, not too smart and always did what he wanted them to. Granger matched only one of these points, but even in that area she couldn't compete with the others. She wasn't his type of girl. Why would he go out with her then? If he was looking for a wife, although he wasn't looking very hard, he had been thinking about it a lot lately (Malfoys marry young, as he always heard), she wouldn't be a potential.

'Just go out with her on one date. If she isn't what you're looking or, then you'll know. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. You may never know and always wonder,' said Mother without looking up from her book. Draco remained silent for a while. He reconsidered his mother's words. She was right, as usual. Maybe it was better if he knew what dating her was like. It would be easier to block her out of his mind. Except the image of her being naked; he was rather fond of that one. And it was only one date, what was one date? She didn't need to have the character, just the looks. And let's face it; she did look good.

'You know what Mother? I think I will.'

**A/N Read and Review please!**


	4. IV

**A/N Since I have waited so long to upload the last chapter, I thought that I would upload this one as well. I hope you enjoy it!**

Hermione came back to her apartment after spending at least two hours at the grocery store and the market. All of her food she bought at the grocery store, she didn't trust the food on the market, but she would buy her book on the market. She loved to walked around and see which books were available. The books were heavy; she didn't want to buy that many, but she couldn't control herself. After putting away the groceries, she took a fresh bought book and seated herself on the couch. It was a romantic novel. She read them occasionally, especially less after Ron broke up with her, but she didn't want to give up on those, not for Ron. It was Sunday and it was her day off. She would usually just go to work, but today, for the first time in three months, she had taken a day off. She wanted her rest and to get her head clear. Reading always helped her, but not today.

She couldn't concentrate on the story; her mind wandered to yesterday when she was at Malfoy Manor. It had taken her a lot of will power to get there. Even thought it was six years ago that Bellatrix Lestrange tortured her there, it was still fresh in her memory if she thought about it. In the end she went because the house-elf needed help. She hoped that she would run into Draco, it was most likely that he was still angry with her for accusing him. When he had walked through the door, she had been frightened that he would hex her. She remained calm and unharmed. On the inside however, she was anything but calm. She could still hear his words and her accusation. She had definitely crossed a line and for the first time in her life, she felt bad about it. No she wasn't going to feel bad for Malfoy; she was just going to continue with her book.

The doorbell suddenly rang. That's strange, she thought, she wasn't expecting anyone. When she looked at the clock she discovered that it was almost six 'o clock. Now she noticed how hungry she actually was. The doorbell rang again.

'I'm coming!' she yelled and stood up. Who could it be?

'Draco, what are you doing here?' she asked shocked. Draco Malfoy was the last person she'd be expecting to be on her doorstep.

'Taking you out on a date of course,' he said sliding his sunglasses on his nay blue shirt with one paw behind it.

'What? Why would I go out with you?'

'Because Granger, I know that you have nothing better to do than read on this Sunday evening.'

'Well, maybe I enjoy reading.'

'Come on Granger, you say that you enjoy reading, a very unsocial thing, above going out, a very social thing. It would question your ability to interact with other people,' said Draco smirking. He really had to come with something better than this if he wanted her to go out with him.

'Only my ability to interact with you would be questioned, not my ability to interact with other people. Besides, I prefer reading above going out with a former enemy, who made at least seven years of my life into a hell,' retorted Hermione, who was secretly enjoying this argument. She wanted him to beg, to persuade her to go out. And she wasn't someone he could easily get, he had to work. Apparently he still wasn't aware of that fact; otherwise his smirk would have been long gone.

'Thank you for admitting that I had such a large influence on your life. But didn't we leave that all in the past?' Hermione decided not to react on his insult, although she was close to start yelling at him for it. He hadn't been an influence, frankly after third year, she wasn't afraid anymore. She saw through his disguises and all she could see was a frightened boy, not ready to be a man. She hated him until she heard what Voldemort did to him. After the war he grew up quickly and showed that he could be a man. She was ready to leave it all in the past. To forgive and forget, as her mother always said. But she to let him know that he hadn't been the nicest person to her and that he couldn't just get her.

'You suggest I'll forget everything that happened? You're bonkers,' she said and was about to close the door; she didn't want to listen to him anymore.

'I see, you are just scared, frightened perhaps, because a handsome bloke asks you out. I understand. Well I'll leave you now. Have a pleasant evening.' He turned around and walked away. How come that he knew how to push her buttons, the right buttons? She wasn't scared or frightened and she realized there was only one way to show that. And Draco knew it. Damn it, stupid Malfoy!

'Fine, give me a minute,' she snapped. Why was she giving in? Oh yeah, because otherwise she would think that Draco would think that she was frightened, despite that she knew that Draco didn't think that at all. Normally she loved her Gryffindor courage, but there were days like this one when she came to dislike it very much. He turned around and walked back, smirking. He had known all along that she would give in. She sighed, he was clever annoying.

'Mind if I came in?' he asked, and walked in. So much for politeness, Hermione thought.

'Just don't touch anything,' she said and walked upstairs, trusting him and yet doubting whether that was a good thing to do; it certainly was the right thing to do. What an annoying brat! Hermione thought. He had no reason whatsoever to go out with her. Was this all because of the one night she drank too much? Was the "incident" the blame for this? Never had Hermione so strongly regretted of going to the pub that evening.

She stood in front of her wardrobe, thinking of what she should wear. She actually didn't want to go out with him. She … Well she wasn't even sure anymore why she's agreed. It was probably because otherwise she would look like a coward, and Gryffindors aren't cowards.

Very clever game, Malfoy, very clever indeed, she thought, but not clever enough.

OoOoOo

Draco looked on his watch for what felt like the millionth time in fifteen minutes. What in the world was taking her so long? Sure, women needed more time to change than men, but it couldn't take that long, could it?

'Hermione!' he yelled upstairs. He knew she only agreed to go out with him because he told her indirectly that she was a coward when she didn't. Okay, it was Slytherin of him to do, but hell, it worked. It would only be one night, one date, about two to three hours and then they could part ways again. Draco looked around the room. As expected, there were books lying around everywhere. Draco sighed; how predictable, he thought. Why was he taking her out again? It wasn't as if he hated her, that was long gone, but she just wasn't his type. He choose to go out with her because she looked good, wait scratch that, she looked hot, but ever since she opened her door and let him in, he was questioning his choice. She looked like she didn't want to go out at all, like she'd rather sit inside all day and read. He wanted someone adventurous, someone that like to go out. Oh Merlin, he thought, I made a bad decision. Best thing is to leave now. Draco was about to disapparate when he heard her descending down the stairs.

'You're coming, Draco?' he heard her say and he knew that if he wanted to apparate, it would be now. But something inside stopped him; he had convinced her to go out with him, he took the trouble of coming here; why leave. Why not go? Maybe she is different than you anticipate. He turned around to face her. Uncontrollably his mouth fell open and it felt like his eyes were popping out of his orbits. She looked even better than smoking hot; she looked a whole lot better than she looked at the Yule Ball. She wore a red dress, which ended just above her knees, just gave the right attention to her curves; not too little, not too much. Draco didn't want to go to out; he felt the urge just to stay here and help her out of her dress, to later face the consequences. He quickly recovered: he was here just to take her out on a date and he already established that she looked good.

'Sure, let's go,' he said and offered her his arm, which she gradually accepted. He apparated them to a posh restaurant; situated in the richer part of muggle London.

'Oh no, I can't …' she started and Draco instantly knew it was a money matter. Had she forgotten that he was rich, not just average rich, but really really wealthy?

'Of course you can; my treat,' he said and guided her to the door, which was opened by some silly-looking teenager. They walked in and immediately a waiter greeted them.

'Ahh, Mr. Malfoy,' the waiter said, it was Sylvain, who knew Draco. It wasn't the first time that Draco was here. 'And who is the beautiful lady? If you could follow me please?' Sylvain walked them to their table, in the quieter place of the restaurant. Draco noticed that Hermione blushed the whole way, and he smiled. When they arrived at their table he pulled back her chair and hinted her to sit down. It all had been a reflex. He didn't know what he was doing when she was seated. When he walked around the table and sat down, he could see that she was impressed by his gentleman behaviour. Immediately after Draco was seated Sylvain came back.

'What would you like to drink?' he asked. Draco looked at Hermione, signing her that she should choose. Please order something alcoholic, then we can have fun, Draco thought and slapped himself for it.

'I'll have some red wine for now, please,' she answered.

'Red wine it is,' replied Draco to the waiter and the latter left.

'Fancy restaurant, amazing seats, I'd almost say you are hitting on me.'

'Says the girl who broke my nose in third year, remember?' Draco retorted. He had said it without thinking. Hopefully she wouldn't be taking this serious, Draco thought.

'Well, you deserved that one,' replied Hermione and at the moment the wine arrived.

'Can I take your orders?' asked the waiter. Draco looked at Hermione, motioning her to pick first.

'Surprise me,' she answered.

'I'll have the same,' Draco said and the waiter left. Draco waited until Hermione said something. She didn't and there was an awkward silence. He took a sip of his wine and he saw that Hermione looked at her nails. Draco was now looking at her dress, remembering how her body looked; remembering the curves. Hermione looked up and she caught him staring at her, causing her to blush. Draco smirked. She opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it again and looked away. Draco chuckled. Hermione shot him a deadly glare.

'Come on Granger, why not have fun? Put aside our difference, you know.'

'Well you can start by dyeing your hair brown,' she answered.

'No thank you, I've grown attached to this colour.' Again there was a silence. This wasn't like the date he had in mind. Maybe he was right after all; he shouldn't have asked her out. Well that was too late now; the only thing he could do was try to make something out of it.

After they finished eating, most of it in silence, they were standing outside of the restaurant. Hermione had insisted that she paid as well, the stubborn with.

'Well I don't think it is fair to say that I had fun, because I didn't. I still don't know why you wanted to go out with me in the first place. See you at work,' Hermione said and she wanted to disapparate, but Draco suddenly had an idea and he stopped her by grabbing her arm.

'Let's dance, I know a good-'

'Why?' she interrupted him.

'Well because you secretly like to dance and it is my only chance of making something out of this date,' he answered honestly. He knew that she would consider going with him, in his favour, because he had been honest, something all women liked. He was right, he saw her hesitating.

'How do you know I like to dance?' she asked.

'You danced on the table the night I rescued you from that bar,' he answered. She eyed him suspiciously and he didn't know why. He had told her right? He had said that she danced, because if he hadn't, she wouldn't trust him anymore and she would leave. That would mean that he failed on a date; he had never failed on a date before, and it wasn't in his blood to fail. Fortunately for him, she gave him the benefit of the doubt and agreed.

'Fine, let's go then. I'm only doing this so that I had fun tonight. It has nothing to do with you,' she said. Sure, Draco thought and he couldn't help but smirk. He offered her his arm and they both apparated to a dance club he had heard Daphne talk about once. It was a bit too crowded and the music was too loud for his liking, but when he saw Hermione's reaction, he was glad that he came here. She seemed to like it.

'Come, let's dance!' she yelled in his ear and pulled him on the dance floor. She mended in with the crowd almost immediately. Draco acted as if he did, but he didn't like it at all. Well at least his date was saved and he hadn't failed, he thought. After dancing for what felt like hours, Draco excused himself and went down to the bar to get something to drink. Before he could order anything he heard someone say his name behind him. He turned around and saw … What was she doing here?

'Astoria? What are you- Never mind, I'm out of here,' he said and he quickly walked away, back to Hermione. He needed to get them both out of here before Astoria saw them; he didn't wanted Hermione to be involved with Astoria. That was his problem.

'Let's go,' he said and he grabbed her underarm, pulling her away.

'Hey!' she protested and pulled her arm loose.

'What are you thinking?' Draco didn't say anything and he looked towards the bar again; Astoria wasn't there anymore, that was bad news.

'We need to go,' he ordered. Why was she being so difficult? Couldn't she just come along?

'Why?' she asked stubbornly and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The next thing that came out of Draco's mouth was something he wasn't planning on saying.

'Because, I want to kiss you senseless,' he said. He didn't want to say it, but she looked smoking hot, crossing her arms in front of her chest while she was angry. He took advantage of her being taken aback and he apparated them both back to her apartment. She looked to consider, actually consider, kissing him. Would he let her? Would he want to kiss her? No, that would look desperate, it was better to let it. He bended forward and he could see her eyes widen. He smiled and pecked her on the cheek.

'Goodnight Hermione,' he said and apparated back to the safety of his apartment, only to find another letter of Astoria waiting. He sighed, would she ever stop?

**A/N Please hit that button called Review and let me know what you think!**


	5. V

**A/N I had a test week, therefore I had little time to work on this. But I'm finished now and enjoy!**

What had he been thinking? First he insisted to take her out and they had a very awkward dinner. She had rather left sooner, but her Gryffindor courage, the same courage that made her agree to go out with him in the first place, made her stay. At the end she'd only agreed to go with him to dance because he had been honest with her and secretly, she liked to dance. When they had enter they club, she noticed that he wasn't feeling comfortable and therefore she pulled him on the dance floor. After half an hour he left to get something to drink, but he came back too quickly and demanded that they would leave. He should have known that she wouldn't want to leave.

She really had been surprised when Draco said that he wanted to kiss her. She didn't know what to believe. Somewhere she wanted to kiss him, just the physical part, but she didn't want to do him a favour. Before she could decide what she would do, he did something he had never done before; he said her first name and bade her goodnight. At that point she was positive about kissing him, but he left, and she was standing there, her cheek lightens up because he pecked it. She had been amazed and surprised.

She could only think of one reason why he left so quickly; he met someone, most likely at the bar, who would do his 'bidding' and therefore he dumped her. Well, they weren't actually dating, but still. He had left her for someone else. Quite the nerve he got.

If she was really honest with herself she knew it would be like that. Somewhere she had known that she had been just a girl on his list; someone not important. Had she really thought that she and Draco would be more than acquaintances? She had been considering to kiss him and she had just agrees when he left. Actually she wanted him to kiss her. Hermione sighed and put down her quill. She ran with her hand through her hair, while looking at the file that was lying on her desk. She instantly knew that it wouldn't work; she couldn't concentrate. Her mind was wandering to all kinds of places, sometimes to places she didn't want it to go. She had fallen for the Malfoy charm ever since she had seen him half naked and she had fallen deep. He knew how to push her buttons and she shouldn't allow him to. If she didn't pay attention she could fall in love with him, but she didn't want to let it go that far. For heaven's sake, she had just come out of a relationship with Ron. How could she been thinking about the possibility of starting one with Draco.

Someone knocked on the door. Was it Draco? No, of course not, she thought, don't be silly. She told the visitor to enter. It was Hannah, a healer Hermione shared the office with. Somehow Hermione felt a bit disappointed. She wanted it to be Draco; she wanted him to storm into her office, declaring he had made a mistake by leaving her. Not that she wanted his love, but she wanted to be wanted. That was something everybody wants, so why shouldn't she? Besides, it wasn't like she was the first girl that wanted Draco Malfoy's body.

Now Hermione mentally slapped herself. She had never felt anything for him and she definitely didn't want him. Okay, not him in particular, but… Stop it and listen to Hannah, Hermione ordered herself. This weird train of thoughts had got to stop.

'Do you need help?' There, she was helping Hannah, no need to think about a certain Malfoy anymore.

'No, I was just looking for a file. Do you happen to know where the file of Richard Warhol is?' Hannah replied, but by saying that name Hermione's breath got stuck in her throat. Richard Warhol had been a six year old boy, who was brought to the children's ward, with a common fever. Twenty-four hours later he had died, leaving all the Healers puzzled. It had been Hermione's first week and Richard had been her first case. She had never given up on him; she had always kept looking for the solution to his death. It had become an obsession to her, she had no idea what would have happened with her if Ginny hadn't saved her. Frankly she didn't want to know. Nevertheless she still hadn't given up on Richard; every now and then she would take a look at his case to see if there was anything she missed. She still didn't have any luck.

'Why are you looking for it?' Hermione asked curiously. Her eye wandered to the top drawer of her desk, where the file was, along with the rest of her personal items.

'There is reason to believe that there is an identical case. I thought that we could use Richard's file to see if there was anything we missed,' answered Hannah. Hermione forgot everything what she was doing; it didn't feel important anymore. This was her moment; if she helped this kid, she might feel good enough for closer. Quickly she opened her top drawer and took the file. She stopped for a moment. A picture of her and Ron was staring back at them; it was taken when he still felt something for her. She felt a sting and reached out for the photograph. Apparently she wasn't over Ron. She wanted him back.

'You're coming?' asked Hannah and Hermione looked up. She nodded towards the witch and the latter already left. She shouldn't be affected this way. She didn't want _him_ back; she wanted to be wanted, which was the same reason why she wanted Draco. Anyway, this wasn't the time and place to cry over boys. It was time to save a life. Hermione stood up and left for the children's ward. She stopped in front of the door, clutching the file, and took a deep breath. She could do this, this time she would save the kid.

OoOoOo

Draco sighed and sat down. Timba immediately sat by his feet and started to wag. He patted her on her head. Since the day he got her, it had been a reassuring thought that there was someone when he came home from work. He added much value to that, just because when he was a kid, he could through the Manor for days without meeting anyone. It had been lonely for him. Therefore he found it pleasing when Timba was there.

Today had been a tough day. He had to run from floor to floor, helping all sorts of people, nothing that wasn't new. What was new, however that there was one man (Draco failed to remember his name), that was objecting getting treatment from Draco. Apparently he still didn't trust Draco. Unconsciously his eyes fell on his left arm. He had made a mistake, he knew that. He just wanted to belong somewhere. He just wanted someone to say that he did a good job. He had always known that he would become a Death Eater, even before the Dark Lord was back again. It was something he learned at his mother's knee, well in this case his father's. Although he knew that their ideas were wrong, well partially wrong (he still hated Potter), he had never blamed them. They were his parents after all. Unfortunately he had no time to apologize to Hermione. Alas, he had to do it tomorrow then.

'Hello Draco,' said a voice behind him, belonging to a woman he wished not to see. Timba started to growl, another sign that it wasn't right. Draco stood up from his couch and turned around.

'Astoria, why are you here?' Draco asked, keeping his face blank, another Malfoy trade. From the corner of his eye he could see Timba showing her tooth to the unwelcome guest.

'You never answer my letters,' said Astoria in a sweet tone. It was such a tone which Pansy used to use to teachers when she didn't have her homework finished and when she didn't want any punishment. It was an innocent, childish tone, but it gave him the creeps.

'I already told you; I don't like you. What more can I do to show you?' Draco sneered. 'I don't answer your letters, with a good reason. I think you're a waste of time. Leave. Me. Alone.' Draco didn't know what was going on in the mind of this witch, and what it had to take him to stop her. She was stalking him and he didn't like it.

'You only think those things because you haven't taken your time to get to know me. I can promise you that if you do, you won't regret it,' she said and slowly walked towards her. Draco sensed what was coming and he reached for his wand. Before he could touch it, however, there was one pointing in his neck and he could hear Timba barking, but he kept his eyes fixed on Astoria.

'Down, Timba,' he said and the dog began to squeak. He knew that he should be afraid, Astoria wasn't someone to underestimate, but he wasn't afraid, in fact, he was furious. How dare she! She had really no idea what she brings upon herself. Even though the angry was slowly started to rise and his blood started to boil, he didn't even do as much as blinking. She wouldn't win against him. He stayed calm, looking her in the eye. He didn't move and neither did she. They both wanted to win. He waited and waited and they both weren't giving up. Draco had enough of this; he had waited long enough, being the impatient man that he was. She would know once and for all that she shouldn't point her wand at him. He chuckled, only to confuse her; it worked.

'What?' She asked. Not only did he win this battle, he would win this war, right here right now.

'Do you have any idea how large the Malfoy fortune is? I bet you do,' he answered for her before she could even open her mouth to say something. 'You do as much as threatening me and I will make sure that you will regret it for the rest of you live. The best part is that I will be able to get away from it. Even though most people don't realise, it are the Malfoys that have a very big influence in their beloved Ministry, even now after the war. I could let you lose your licence of magic and make everybody hate you. If you even remotely know me, you would know that. You would know that I'm the last person that you would want as your enemy. I have the power to completely destroy you and your family. So Greengrass, for the last time; I don't like you, so stop with the letters and the teenage crush. You're nothing to me and you never will be.' And then he waited again, this time for her to leave. Saying all this awakened the Slytherin in him and made him sound threatening. He would destroy her and she knew it. The anger was reduced and his blood was at a normal temperature. He waited another minute, only to see her struggle and surrender. She put her wand back in her purse and walked away. Draco felt relieve, convince that she would stop.

'Your parents would find me a better partner than that mudblood. Just so you know,' she said and disapparated. Draco pulled out his wand and changed his wards so that Astoria wouldn't be able to come here ever again. Only when he finished that he allowed his mind to rethink her words. _That mudblood. _The only person she could be talking about was Hermione. But why was she talking about her. They weren't involved, never had been. Why was she thinking that? She couldn't possible believe that the two of them were together? Hermione Granger was the last person in the whole world whom he wanted a relationship with (beside family and Astoria), why was Astoria thinking anything different?

Then a scary thought kicked in; what if not only Astoria thought it, what if his parents did as well? There was no way that his father would accept him. There was no other option than to go to his parents and find out what they already knew. He gave Timba her food and went to his neighbour to ask if she could go and walk with Timba. His neighbour, Lisa, was fine with that. Of course, she would do anything for him. It never got boring, a charm that would make every girl fall at his feet, every girl but Hermione. He shook his head, banned her out of his thoughts and apparated to the Manor.

**A/N You know what to do, hit that button and tell me what you think. **


	6. VI

**A/N Hi everyone! Here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer; Everyone belongs to J.K. Rowling. I'll just have to come up with my own story, but for now, I'll be borrowing her world.**

Hermione's eyes shot open and it took her some time to let her eyes adjust to the light. She found herself in her living room; apparently she had fallen asleep on the couch. She stretched and stood up. How long had she slept? She tried to remember last night, but it was blank. She looked at the clock and saw that it was six in the afternoon. This was unbelievable! There is no way that she could have over slept. She was always on time, her biological alarm ringing before the real alarm did. She glanced down and saw that she was wearing her uniform. She groaned, not only did she over slept big time, she fell asleep in her uniform, on the couch, for crying out loud. _Well, be glad that it is your own couch_, said a voice inside her head. That wasn't much help either. Scowling at herself, she walked upstairs to change into her other uniform. That was the reason why she had two uniforms. She pulled her shirt over her head and threw it on her bed, before putting on her new shirt. There was something red on the back, she noticed and frowned. It looked a bit like a handprint, a very small handprint, belonging to a little boy.

Suddenly she remembered and the shock and sadness overwhelmed her. She sank to the ground, back against the wall, clutching her heart. She hadn't been able to. It was her fault. She screwed up the first time and now again. She felt responsible for what had happened. She could have saved him, if Ginny hadn't stopped her. Peter Hawcock, a six year old boy had lost his live because she had stopped looking for the answer. It didn't matter what Ginny said, she knew the case inside out and again another live was lost. She was there, the entire night, by his side, watching as he was fighting for his live. It was so cruel to see; he was too small and vulnerable, yet he fought, he fought and he tried, but it wasn't enough.

Slowly the sobs started to come and the tears were pouring down her face. She had failed the little boy, who should have a whole life ahead of him. Not only did she failed him, she also failed his parents, who leaned on her to cure their son, she failed the rest of the staff, who counted on her expertise, she failed herself for not being able to cure this, but most of all; she failed Richard Warhol, because she couldn't cure Peter. Richard had given his life and she was determined not to lose Peter the way she lost Richard. She was useless; she fell short not only the first time, but also the second.

Somewhere she knew that she did everything she could and that she knew from the start that there was a chance that Peter wasn't going to make it, but that part lost from her quilt and conscious. Where did she fail? She couldn't stand it; somewhere along the path she failed twice and she didn't know how or why or when. It was making her furious. Peter had done nothing to die! Why was he the victim of her failure? Clearly it must have been fault, and this was probably the way to punish her.

'Hermione?' she heard a male voice down stairs, but she didn't care. She had let her guards down and because of that, an innocent boy died. She should care, she should see who it was, but she couldn't find the energy to do it. She knew that no one who wanted to do her any harm would be accepted by her wards, so this person wouldn't be a threat to her. She pulled up her legs and wrapped her arms around them, letting her forehead rest on top of her knees. She sat there for what felt like a long time. She couldn't find the energy to do anything else than to cry. It was because of her that two boys died, and she knew that. She thought that, through the sobs, she could hear someone climbing the stairs. She couldn't be sure. Maybe it was her imagination, maybe she imagined someone calling out her name and climbing the stairs. Who would want to be with her? She failed, she failed them; she failed everybody.

Out of nowhere, it seemed, two strong arms wrapped around her and she felt someone's chin on her head. She didn't have the strength to fight it. All she wanted to be was alone now, to let her drown herself in self pity and sadness.

'What is wrong? Hermione, why are you crying?' asked the voice softly while rubbing her arm. It gave her some comfort, but she knew that she didn't deserve it. He had to leave; he shouldn't be bothered by her. She wanted to say that he needed to leave, but she couldn't find her voice. She wanted to push him away, but she couldn't find the strength or the energy. Instead she leaned in and rested her head against his chest. He gave her comfort, for some strange reason, but she didn't know who he was. She looked up, but everything was blurry because the tears still ran over her cheeks.

'Are you hurt?' he asked, obviously asking if she was physically hurt. She shook her head, while she knew she was. It felt like thousand needles were stinging in her chest. She felt so guilty for what had happened; she felt sorry for Peter. Despite the fact that she knew him so short, she felt like had known him all her life and that she couldn't live without him. He had demanded all of her time and energy and she was happy to give them to him, and yet he was taken away so abruptly.

She felt the two arms around her, lift her up from the ground and placed her on something soft; her bed, no doubt. He tucked her in and suddenly she felt so tired, Peter had drained all her energy, which she had willingly given him. She heard footsteps toward the door and she felt scared. Those arms gave her more comfort than she allowed herself to think and she needed them.

'Stay,' her voice was a whisper, but it had been loud enough to reach the man. She could hear the footsteps approach and seconds later she felt big hands wrapped around hers. She didn't want to sleep; it would give her hope, hope that would tear her more once she woke up. But her fatigue won from the desire to stay awake and the last thing she felt was a hand stroking her hair.

OoOoOo

Draco was standing in front of one of the few places he never wanted to go to. But he had no choice. Sighed he rang the doorbell and took a step back. He inhaled deeply and was mentally preparing himself for what was coming. The door opened and in the door opening was She-Weasley – no wait, now was it Potter – carrying a child with raven black hair and bright blue eyes, who was clutching himself to his mother. She seemed utterly surprised to see him and immediately she turned her baby away from him. For a second he was furious, but it quickly ebbed away. Draco would have done the same thing, so there was no need to become angry. Besides how much he wanted to leave here, he had a job to do.

'Malfoy,' She-Potter said suspiciously and Draco could she watched everything he did. It was quite annoying, but he needed her help.

'Potter,' Draco greeted her and he could see a twinkle in her eye, as if she was proud to be a Potter. He had always hated Potter, and his hero attitude wasn't making it better. Potter always pretended that he was better than he actually was and that annoyed Draco down to his very core. Weasley made matters worse and he pretended to be special as well. Only Hermione was exactly as she pretended she was. That was why he helped her, that one night when she got drunk. Of course he would never admit that.

'Is it convenient? Or should I come back?' Draco asked, hoping that She-Potter would ask why he was here in the first place. He didn't want to intrude.

'Depends on what the matter is,' she answered, still holding her son protectively behind her back.

'It is about Granger,' Draco replied, careful that he didn't say Hermione, it would only ring the alarm bells, and that was something he did not wanted.

'What about her?' He caught her attention. She cared a lot about her friend and that was why Draco came to her first. She would be smart enough to put aside the rivalry for a moment, if it was concerning Hermione. He was sure that Potter and Weasley wouldn't.

'I'd rather discuss that inside,' was the short answer of Draco. She-Potter hesitated, but then decided that it was safe to let him in. She moved aside and he entered. She lead him to the living room and placed her baby (named James, Draco believed he had heard somewhere) in his box. She turned around and faced him, crossing her arms in front of her chest, giving him a glance which meant that he had to start.

'After my shift ended, I went looking for Granger, I needed her for a case that I had,' he quickly said before she could draw any other conclusions. 'Anyway, I couldn't find her, so I left for her apartment- She showed me before, no need for a fuss!' She had opened her mouth to interfere, but he had cut her off. She settled for a glare which should have been scary, but right now Draco couldn't care less. 'So I went to her apartment, her wards accepted me, and I waited for her for about half an hour before I went to look through the house. I found her in her bedroom, crying, obviously in pain. She's repeating the names Richard Warhol and Peter Hawcock, over and over again, along with "I failed".'Draco thought that he saw a glimpse of recognition in She-Potter's eyes, but he wasn't sure.

'Why do you need me?'

'I don't know! You know her better than I do, and I know that you care for her. She has been crying for days in her bed, refusing to eat, barely drinking. Look, I might not like her much, but I don't wish her dead and I'm telling you, this is going to kill her, soon.' Didn't she understand? Draco forced himself to remain calm. She-Potter stayed silence for a while, deep in thought.

'Thank you, I don't know what has you, but I appreciate that you came to me. I shall visit her. You can go,' she said and she walked to the fireplace, to call Potter. For once, Draco walked away without a fight. It would have made things more complicated. He closed the door behind him and apparated to his apartment.

Automatically Draco walked to the table for the letter of Astoria, and he felt relieved when he found none. Had it finally stopped? He heard a bark and when he turned around Timba jumped up against him. Without saying anything Draco grabbed the leash and he went with Timba to the park, taking a Frisbee. Timba loved it and she could keep on running. Arriving at the park, Draco threw the strange muggle object and Timba ran after it. He slowly followed the trail, his mind wondering. He knew it had been the right thing to do; to go to She-Potter. He knew it, but there was still something nagging at him and he couldn't identify what it was.

The last few days had been horror to him, seeing Hermione like that; crumbled, defensive walls down. He only came to apologize to her after he couldn't find her at work. He thought that he heard someone sob, so he walked upstairs. He found her in her bedroom, curled up like a ball leaned against the wall, crying as if she lost someone close to her. He held her, the only thing he could think of. She didn't answer him, hell, he wasn't sure she knew he was there. He had placed her on her bed, where she had asked him to stay. He almost missed it; the barely audible whisper. There was something in her voice that made him turn around and walked back to her. He held her hand and stroked her hair until she fell asleep. Even then he didn't leave her. There was something that was forcing him to stay, and he didn't mind. He felt horrible for seeing her like that and he believed that staying helped. After a couple of days at her side, she had stopped crying, but she wasn't responsive. It was like she was an empty shell, with no one in it.

Timba came back and Draco threw the thing again. He cared for Hermione, like friends do. He didn't know when they had reached that point, but he did know that ever since he took Hermione from that bar, things changed between them. He started to see her differently than a weird-bossy-know-it-all. A lot different. Why had he taken her out on a date? That changed things between them. In a matter of weeks, they went from acquaintances to friends, to daters, to the awkward phase after the date that went wrong. He had wanted to apologize, something he had never done in his life. Okay he made apologizes only to help him, but apologizing to Hermione wouldn't make him better. No, he would do it for her. Only for her…

Draco stood still, a look of shock and realisation on his face. No, it can't be. How? Why? When? He can't … Draco ran through his hair, letting his hand rest on the top of her head. He suddenly knew why he had been feeling different these weeks. He never expected it, to say at least. Draco had to control himself not to apparate now. It wouldn't help, beside Ginny would be there. It wouldn't make a difference. He was wrong anyway. What he was feeling was temporarily, something that would fade over time. She didn't mean that to him, did she?

**A/N Read and review please!**


	7. VII

**A****/N Here is the next chapter. I hope I updated fast enough. **

**I would like to thank my Beta, for correcting my story. **

Hermione held up her hand to knock on his door, but she didn't. She even didn't know if he was in there. She almost wanted to turn around and walk away, but her courage made her stay. Her stupid courage! This was the second time her courage made her do something she didn't want. Last time it turned out to be a disastrous date. She felt embarrassed by the fact that Draco saw her when she was most vulnerable, and thank Merlin that he didn't do anything. Well not that she could remember much of it; everything was blurry. Yes, she still felt guilty, but if it wasn't for Ginny (that was the second time already, she should spent more time with Ginny as repayment) she would still have been crying her eyes out. Also, if it wasn't for Ginny, she would never have known that Draco was there, which would make her feel less awkward about seeing him.

Unfortunately, at this moment, Hermione felt like she should thank Draco for being there the first three days when she was … in distress. That happened a month ago and now she was able to go back to work again. Strangely found herself outside Draco's apartment, hoping he would be home. She had to thank him, but she couldn't knock on the door. Great; her courage made her stay, but it couldn't make her nod on the door. She sighed; wasn't it better that she left and maybe come back tomorrow? It would give her more time to consider what to say to Draco and that would make her look less stupid. Tomorrow would give her the opportunity to face him, knowing that she would control the situation; that nothing stupid would happen. She was still vulnerable, and she didn't know if she would have the strength to resist him.

In these few days, after she started to feel less guilty and after Ginny had told her that it was Draco who found her in her bedroom and that he was the one to inform Ginny, she couldn't get him out of her mind. He had been there, cancelled work, and cared for her. Most men don't do that sort of thing, do they? She didn't remember him actually being there, but she did remember someone asking if she was hurt and someone that stayed because she asked. She remembered a hand holding hers and a soft voice singing a lullaby, not completely pure, but it was good enough. She had felt safe, strangely enough. Letting go of her rational thought, she had trusted this man, who turned out to be Draco, completely. He hadn't said much, but his presence was enough to calm her down a bit.

He, on the other hand, must think that she was completely stupid. How could he not? He found her, crying, whispering, not responsing. He couldn't stand it anymore, so he went to Ginny. That was why Ginny came, Hermione suddenly realised. He didn't want to be around her anymore. A tear ran down her cheek. He never meant any of it. He just was there because … Well she didn't know why he was there. The only thing she did know was that he had left after three days, because he had enough of her. It wasn't as if he … As if he cared for her. He had proven that already. The evidence was all there. 

Why did he help you then in that bar? A voice in her head asked. Because, he still wants to be on the people's good side and helping her he ensured that the other wizards wouldn't think bad of him anymore. It wasn't because he cared; it was because he wanted his image to be good. Another tear fell down. It was just like with Ron; thinking he cared, but in the end they would only do because it would help them out. She wasn't important to both wizards.

'Hermione, what are you doing here?' She heard someone say behind her and she immediately recognised the voice. The very same person she was here for. She wiped away the tears and turned around. There was Draco, by his side a Labrador, who was very enthusiastic and seemed to want to jump up at her. He looked more gorgeous than she remembered. His hair was all ruffled by the wind and his cheeks were slightly red, as if he had been running.

'Hi Draco,' she said and she realised that it was the first time that she addressed him with his first name. She quickly looked away and felt her cheeks redden. From the corner of her eyes, she could see him smiling. A real smile, not a smirk; something she had never seen before.

'Come in,' he said and he opened the door, letting her walk in first. She didn't know why she was doing this. He took her coat and hung it on the coat and hat rack. To avoid looking at him, she bent down and started petting the Labrador.

'Her name is Timba,' Draco said and she looked up smiling, feeling like a love-sick girl. Her eyes connected with Draco's and she couldn't look away. He seemed to get closer and closer. Now she had to look up at him. He was so close; she could feel his body warmth, or was that her imagination? Strangely surprising herself she didn't mind the proximity. She saw his eye shot down to her lips, and back up again, meeting hers, silently asking permission to kiss her. It scared her that she wanted him to kiss her; this was completely new for her. He reached out and his hand cupped her cheek. She felt her breathing accelerate and her heart in her throat. She wanted to know what he tasted like. His lips was less than an inch away from hers and she closed her eyes, turning her head up, meeting his lips as they faintly brushed hers.

Hermione didn't know what happened, but a second later she found herself on the ground, with Timba licking her face.

'Timba, to your basket, now,' Draco said calmly, but his voice was strict and Timba obeyed immediately. 'Sorry about that,' he said while he helped her up.

'Don't bother,' she said, glad that the dog had interrupted. Whatever would have happened, it would be wrong. This was Draco Malfoy, he wasn't her type. She was here to thank him for helping her, not to jump him. She had to stay focussed. 'I wanted to thank you, for being there for me after... You know what,' she said, avoiding his eyes, knowing that she couldn't afford another moment of weakness, because that was the almost kiss; a moment of weakness. It wasn't as if she wanted it, or, heaven forbid, in love with him.

'You're welcome,' he replied. She gave him a short smile and turned around, walking back through the front door, apparating the moment she was out of there. If she only had looked back, she could have seen the confused, hurt look in his eyes, which could have changed her mind.

OoOoOo

Draco carefully avoided her on the work the next couple of weeks, hoping that his feelings for her would lessen, to a point that it wouldn't bother him every night when he came home to a somewhat empty house. He knew how she felt; it was clearly readable in her eyes when she left that afternoon. He was getting better at this; pretending he didn't feel anything for her. It made life easier. She hadn't sought contact after what happened; he had probably scared her away.

The almost kiss was a conformation for his feelings, which he had tried to denied. He liked her, a lot. He might even been in love with her. Ever since the night she spent, completely hangover, he had been interested in her. Why else he had agreed to talk to her, had he told her the truth about that night? Hell, he had asked her on a date! He was positive now. He rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling of his bedroom. Insomnia was his new best friend. He hadn't slept properly since her lips had brushed hers. Although he hadn't been a stranger to kissing and meaningless sex, something inside him couldn't think that way about her. He wanted her, more and more every day.

He looked at the clock on his bed stand: six a.m. He might as well get up now, and do something useful. He got dressed and went downstairs. Timba looked at him, but made no attempt to get up. It was probably too early for her. After he made breakfast, he felt too active. He needed to do something to get rid of the extra energy, which he had. He could clean his house, but he didn't want to. A few spells could do that for him, and he knew from previous experience that magic would win over his determination to do it the muggle way. He walked into the hall way, not knowing what to do with himself. He knew that he had to distract himself, otherwise he would probably do something he would later regret and he would probably do that something to Hermione. Suddenly his eyes fell on the running shoes he had purchased a few years earlier, just because he, could, and he had done nothing with them. Maybe it was time to change that.

He had been late; he had never been late before. A habit, he realised, was one Hermione had as well. The running took longer than he had thought. It was a perfect way to think and get rid of energy. He dropped his bag on the couch and sat down. Today had been exhausting. He had been wanted at two different floors at the same time. It was a miracle he had survived.

'You look like a mountain troll, you know that right?' said a familiar voice and Draco smiled when his friend entered the room. Timba jumped up and greeted Blaise, as joyful as ever.

'You tell me, I haven't had the chance to look in the mirror today. Been busy all day long,' Draco replied as Blaise sat down on a chair. 'How's Daphne?'

'Good. She says hi.' It was silence for a while. Draco didn't know if he could tell Blaise.

'I've heard that you have a thing for Hermione Granger.' That solved the matter, thought Draco. 'Astoria saw the both of you on date a while ago. If I had known earlier, I would have come.' Draco could see that he was somehow hurt. As much as they tried, they couldn't hide their emotions around each other, the one reason why they were such good friends.

'It was nothing. Mother had talked me into it, and it turned out to be a disaster. But, you're right. I have a thing for her; I like her, a lot. I don't know if she knows, but a couple of weeks ago we almost kissed and gone she was,' Draco confessed to Blaise. The former was absolutely positive that telling his best friend was the right thing to do. Draco waited on a reply, but Blaise was grinning, one that grew bigger every second. Draco raised his eyebrows, motioning the latter to spill what he was thinking.

'You like her,' Blaise only said.

'Yes, I like her. I think we have established that.'

'Didn't I tell you at Hogwarts? Didn't I? I told you that you liked her, but you never listened to me.' Draco sighed, but he remembered. At the time he had dismissed Blaise's comment, finding it impossible. Even now he thought that it had nothing to do with school. The feelings he harboured for Hermione were recent, he was sure of that.

'Yes, you are right, almighty Blaise,' he said dryly. 'What am I to do now?' Usually it was Blaise that had come to him with dating advice. Now the roles were reversed.

'I mean; a couple of weeks ago we almost kissed, but Timba broke us apart, and before I knew it she was gone. She just left.' Blaise said nothing for a while, although a couple of time he opened his mouth, but then he changed his mind and closed it again. Somehow that made Draco nervous. Blaise must have seen that.

'Well, I dare say that it is not completely hopeless, just yet. Have you been able to talk about it?'

'Well I kind of avoided her?' Draco ended with a question when he saw the disapproving face of Blaise.

'What was I suppose to do? I couldn't, well still can't, be around her and not want to kiss her senseless and it is not as if she contacted me, despite the obvious fact that I was avoiding her, though I don't know if she noticed that, because-'

'Draco! You're rambling,' Blaise quickly interrupted his best friend, knowing that Draco could keep going for hours. Draco rarely rambled so when he did, it was serious.

'Sorry,' Draco muttered, feeling slightly embarrassed. Malfoys didn't ramble. They just didn't. Then again, they would never chase after a girl, which would clearly happen.

'It is simple; you are going to take her on a date,' said Blaise. Draco only raised an eyebrow, remembering the previous and only date. 'Well at least you are going to court her.'

'How?' Draco asked, eagerly leaning forward.

'Later, I think it is best that you first eat something.'

'Bastard,' Draco replied, but stood up nonetheless.

'That is exactly why we are friends,' Blaise answered smirking, earning a smack on his arm by Draco.

**A/N Read and Review!**


	8. VIII

**A/N Hello, I'm back. I'm sorry for the delay, but I had a bit of a writer's block. I hope it is over now. **

**I would like to thank my beta for correcting this chapter. **

**Disclaimer; Nothing is mine. **

**Oh and Cali I have every intention of continuing this story. Though I don't think I work that good under pressure ;)**

**For everyone that is still reading this story: Enjoy! **

Hermione was at work, chewing on her pen, thinking about the one person she hadn't been able to get out of her head. She knew that he avoided her, obviously embarrassed by the almost kiss. The moment she had arrived in her apartment, she knew that she had been wrong. She should have gone back and kissed him. Her pride had forbidden it, but her mind had agreed. The day after on work she hoped that they would have bumped into each other. After a couple of days when that didn't happen, she had the hunch. Later that hunch was confirmed; Draco was avoiding her.

It had hurt her more than she thought it would. After a lot of nights arguing with herself; she had come to conclusion that she may like him a bid. Oh, who was she kidding, she like him a lot. Her rational mind knew that they would never be, and she listened to it, despite her heart was screaming to go to him. His avoiding her gave her more and more reason to listen to her mind and knowing that he felt the same way. She looked at the clock, it was 1 pm; it was time for lunch. She stood up and walked to the elevator. She didn't have to wait long. Pressing the button, she suddenly remembered the time where she and Draco were alone in the elevator and she desperately wanted him to leave. She would have done anything now to have him here, stuck with her in the elevator. Luck wasn't on her side when she arrived at the cafeteria with seeing Draco. Thinking about him made her loose her appetite, and so she settled for a coffee, which she took back to her office; filling in paperwork for the remaining of her day.

A couple of days later she was still filling in paperwork. She had always thought that being a Healer would mean that she actually got to heal people, but apparently the paperwork was more important. She heard the door open and a pair of footsteps walk in. It must be Hannah, she thought.

'What is it, Hannah?' she asked, without looking up. She didn't reply. Instead someone knocked on the door. Hermione looked up, only to find the object of her recent desire standing in the doorway, hand still raised from knocking on the door. For the first time in her life, she was happy to see Draco Malfoy.

'Hi. Can I come in?' he asked, breaking the awkward silence.

'Yes, absolutely, please do,' she answered and stood up, not entirely sure why she did that. He walked in with a confident smile and stopped about a feet in front of her desk. She wanted to say something, anything, but she couldn't come up with something clever to say. Slowly she felt her cheeks redden and she turned her head away, afraid to look him in the eye. Come Hermione, she thought, where is your Gryffindor courage? She deeply inhaled and turned her head back, fiercely focussed on his eyebrows.

'I know that last time didn't work out that well, so I was wondering if you would give me a second shot,' he said. Her heart skipped a beat; did he mean the almost kiss? She was more than willing to do so. She couldn't believe herself that she thought that.

'I would like, if you allow me, to invite you to dine with me,' he continued after she hadn't replied. Dine?

'Like a date?' she asked; eager to know.

'Yes, you could call it that,' he answered smiling. Hermione couldn't help but to smile back.

'Sure. As long as you don't take me to that awful dance club,' she joked. Her heartbeat increased and she felt insanely happy.

'Tonight, seven-thirty?' he asked, seeking her eyes. Yes! She wanted to scream. What about now? They could just have lunch, or brunch, or just sit in the park. Hermione mentally slapped herself to stop her train of thought.

'Sure,' she replied, wishing that her useless desk was out of her way, so she could walk towards him. Unfortunately the bloody thing wouldn't move.

'I'll pick you up,' he said and just for a second it looked as if he would step towards her, but at the last moment he changed his mind and gave her another flashing smile, making Hermione's knees weak. She smiled back, so hard that it hurt, but it was worth it. He turned around and walked away. When he was out of sight, she had to sit down; afraid her knees would fail her. For a few minutes she could do nothing but to smile like a fool and think: I'm having a date with Draco Malfoy. After those minutes she mentally slapped herself again. Why was she being influence by him that much? He just had to enter the room and she would want to do and think things that she normally wouldn't. She knew she liked him, but she had never felt this way with Ron.

There was only one thing left to do; she would have to seek advice with Ginny.

She looked at herself in the mirror, turning around to see every side. She was wearing her red dress again; the one that just ended above her knees. It looked perfect on her; the only thing was that she already wore this one. She went back to her relatively small closet. There was not much else to choose from. Besides the red dress, she had a black one. Only that black dress made her look as if she had to attend a funeral. Then there was always the white blouse with a beautiful black outline of a flower and the black skirt, but those made her feel like a penguin.

After trying literally everything in her wardrobe, she was beginning to feel desperate. No way, that she had enough time to buy a new outfit. She just had to go with the red dress again, but this time, she wore a thin black cardigan with it, and her black high heels with open toe. She had no idea where Draco would take her and she hadn't had the chance to speak to Ginny just yet. When she was finished with her hair and make-up, she took a last look at herself in the mirror. She looked good, she thought. Wait, what if Draco didn't take her to a fancy restaurant, like he did last time, but to something more casual, then she was completely overdressed.

There was no time to change her mind; she already heard the doorbell ring.

OoOoOo

He looked at her, while finishing the last bites of his home cooked meal. He had taken the afternoon off to prepare the meal. At seven-thirty precise, he had stood on her doorstep; nervous. She had looked gorgeous, as usual. He almost choked when she locked her eyes with his and gave him a shy smile. Why did she have to look so hot? Draco had to resist the urge to kiss her senseless

'Shall we?' he asked, giving her his arm, which she took. Before he appareted away, she quickly locked the door.

'Where are we going?' she asked.

'You'll see,' he said mysterious, hoping that she would like the surprise he had for her. He looked at her face when they apparated. He could read the surprise and the confusion on her face as they appeared on his doorstep. She looked at him and he could tell that she didn't understand.

'Have you forgotten anything?' she asked. Suddenly Draco was not so sure, if this had been the right thing to do.

'No,' he replied and led the way in. Being the gentleman that he was he took her coat and guided her to dining room, the table lit with two candles. He pulled out a chair for her.

'Wait here,' he said as he went into the kitchen to get the first course. Diner had proven to be a success. There was nothing awkward and they had been laughing quite a lot. About that Canada was Draco's most favourite country, after Britain. About the pets they both used to have and have. About that Hermione simple loved Australia. Afterwards they went to the living room, where they sat with a wine and soft music playing on the background.

'I'm telling you, Ron and Harry would have died without you, from what I've heard.'

'No, they are capable of a lot of things without me. They rescued Ginny during second year at Hogwarts without me,' Hermione contradicted.

'Right, I'm positive you had something to do with it,' Draco said and he finished his glass of wine.

'You want some more wine, or do you want to go home?' he asked, raising his glass, hoping the former.

'No, thank you. It's getting late,' she said and she stood up.

'Oh, yeah you're probably right,' he replied, hoping his disappointment didn't show. He knew that he could do this for hours and hours, for the rest of his live. He guided her back to the front door and gave her her coat. She smiled at him, and the only thing he could do was to smile back.

'Well, I'll see you at work, I guess. I want to thank you for diner, it was definitely better than last time,' she said. Draco ran a hand through his hair.

'Definitely, I'll see you around. 'He watched as she disapparted. "Definitely better than last time?" Was that all? Maybe she was not that into him. Had it meant nothing to her? He had been restraining himself no to kiss her, but apparently she hadn't seen him that way. He closed the door and went to the kitchen where Timba was faithfully lying, waiting on him, her head resting on her paws.

'You're coming?' he asked and within a second Timba was on her feet again. He took her leash and walked outside into the park. Had he misinterpreted the signs? Or had he just seen what he wanted to see? Because he was positive that she had to like him too. Maybe she was just shy?

He quickly disregarded the thought; she was a Gryffindor for Merlin's sake. They weren't shy and especially not her. This was probably a nice way of rejecting him. He should let it go, he shouldn't dwell on it.

Timba came running back to him with a stick and dropped it in front of him. He picked up the stick and pretended to throw it. Timba enthusiastically ran after it, until she realised that he hadn't thrown the stick and she came running back. By then he had thrown the stick in the other direction. He smiled. He could do this all night long and every time she would take the bait.

After walking for almost an hour he returned to his house. When he entered his street, he saw someone sitting on the front step of his house. Coming closer he realised it was Hermione. Had she forgotten something?

'Hey,' he said when he arrived at the house. 'Have you forgotten something?'

'Yeah,' she replied and she stood up. He noticed that she was still wearing the same outfit she wore at the date, or the semi-date. He opened the front door and went inside, putting Timba back into the kitchen.

'Come in, I don't bite,' he said, trying to lighten the mood. She looked very nervous, but he didn't know why. Slowly she stepped inside and she closed the door behind her. Draco couldn't help but to think back at the last time they were in this position. He quickly shoved the memory back into a dark corner of his mind; it wouldn't help him a thing.

'What is it that you have forgotten? Is it that important to come back for? I mean, I could have taken it with me to work, that's no problem.' He was still trying to figure out what she had forgotten, but he couldn't think of anything. She bit her lower lip and he had to focus on something else, otherwise he wasn't sure if he could control himself. Every part of him screamed that he should kiss her; only his rational mind restrained him from doing so.

He was suddenly very aware of her proximity. He had to take a step back. Before he could move, she already closed the distance and pressed her lips on his. It took him a second to feel overwhelmed, surprised and happy before his hand disappeared in her hair and he kissed her back. She threw her arms around his neck while his other hand cupped her face. He couldn't think straight; his attention was merely focused on her and the way her lips moved along his.

After what seemed like hours she pulled back and they could catch their breath. He couldn't get enough of her and he placed butterfly kisses on her forehead, down her nose and neck. He took a deep breath in and smelled her scent, and he immediately was addicted to it. 

She gave him a last kiss before she turned around and walked away. Just before she apparated, she looked back and smiled. Draco closed the door behind her, hoping Monday would come soon.

**A/N Make my day and press that button, letting me know what you think.**


	9. IX

**A/N Hello, here is another update. Have fun!**

She was toying with her cup, twirling it around. She felt her smile plastered on her face; no matter what she did, it wouldn't come off. There she sat, alone at a table in the cafeteria hoping one special Slytherin would come to join her. She knew she had to go back to her office, but somehow she couldn't get herself to do it. She hadn't heard anything from him since she kissed him. What if he had changed his mind and decided that he didn't like her anymore? Or what if he never liked her from the beginning? Don't be silly, Hermione thought to herself, he wouldn't have made her dinner if he hadn't like her a little. Definitely he wouldn't have kissed her back if he didn't like her.

Still, she was still wondering why she hadn't heard anything from him. She looked at her watch. It was time to go back. Reluctantly she stood up and walked slowly back to her office, hoping that he would be there, around every corner, or that somehow he had been in the elevator. She made it back to her office without seeing him. She opened the door and stepped in. Maybe he had thought it was a little mistake. Well, it had taken all of her Gryffindor courage to come back and kiss him. She, for one, didn't regret kissing him.

She walked on to her desk and sat down. Maybe he had fallen ill, or had some kind of accident that prevented him from coming here, or even contacting her? Hermione sighed while running a hand through her hair. She looked at the vast number of files on her desk and knew that she would be busy until it was time to go home. Hopefully working on the files would mean that she wouldn't be thinking about Draco, or the lack of his presence. Unfortunately the files needed by checked for errors, which would only engage a small portion of her brain capacity and the rest of it kept wondering why Draco hadn't made an appearance.

By the time her working day was over, Hermione felt even worse than this morning. What if it had all been a game to him? Just to see if he still had the charms. She was nothing but another notch on his bedpost. Luckily it was better for her that they hadn't slept together. Her mind wondered back to the dreadful night, where he claimed nothing had happened. And she had believed him. Maybe something had happened and now he wanted to see if he could have her when she was sober. She fell for it, head down. When it was five o'clock she left. She closed the door behind her and made her way to the elevator. She had rounded one corner when she heard her name being called.

She recognized the voice. She couldn't think straight. Why was he here? Why now? Why bother? She felt the tears in her eyes and she bit her lip to keep them from failing. She made it to the elevator, completely ignoring one Draco Malfoy. Unfortunately fate wasn't on her side and the by the time the elevator had arrived, so had Malfoy. Great, she started to call him Malfoy in her thoughts. Maybe it was a sign? She quickly stepped into the elevator, but Malfoy beat her to it. She was determined not to let him do his magic and let her fall head over heels again. Because it was in the afternoon when she had finally realised it; she had fallen in love with the bastard. Gradually she had stopped loving Ron, and her attention was shifted towards Draco. But she was determined and always when she had been determined nothing could stop her.

'Look, I know that you are ignoring me, and you have enough reason to do so, but I just need to tell what happened. Come on, Hermione! Do you think I'm a complete idiot?' he started but she refused to look at him, or even acknowledge him. She just hoped to soon reach the ground floor so that she could get away from him. She focussed on the buttons of the elevator, succeeding in completely blocking him out of her thoughts. She hadn't realised that the elevator had stopped moving, until she saw that the button for the second floor was ignited way too long. Roughly a hand gripped her shoulder and forced her to turn around.

'Please listen to me. My mother fell ill, terrible ill and I had to go and heal her. I've done nothing else but to sit next to her bed yesterday. The house healer took over today. I quickly showered and got here as fast as I could. You have to believe me. Say something, anything!' She could hear that he was losing it. His voice was trembling. Somehow she felt relieved, while watching her shoes intensely, relieved that he hadn't thought she was another notch on his bedpost. Suddenly logics kicked back in; how could she know that she wasn't?

'You think you're just another on my list, don't you? How can I make you see you're not? I'll do anything Hermione, anything.' She couldn't help but notice how desperate he sounded. She knew that if she looked him in the eye, she would lose it, but she couldn't restrain herself. When she looked up she saw the stubbles on his face and huge bags under his eyes. Clearly he left in a hurry this morning. She hadn't noticed, but he had placed his hands on either side of her, trapping her in the confinement of his arms. His eyes were searching her face for something, but all she could do was staring at his lips.

'Why isn't the lift moving?' she asked, trying to change the subject and to stop thinking about the way she had felt when they had kissed.

'I don't know,' Draco answered (she was back to Draco now) and looked at her again, this time he looked her in the eye and she found it hard to look away. He lowered his head and rested his forehead on hers. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't. She saw him moving closer but she was paralysed. A part of her wanted him to go away and leave her alone, another (much larger) part wanted to close the distance between them. He had stopped halfway and it was driving Hermione mad. She did the thing her logic brain forbade her; she closed the distance and once again felt his lips upon hers. His hand found her hair as he responded, deepening the kiss.

Hermione was in a complete state of bliss as his tongue asked for entrance which she granted. Her arms were around his neck and she had the feeling nothing could go wrong.

'If you were just a girl on my list, would I come back for you? Would I chase you down the hall and into elevator, only to charm it to stop halfway?' Draco asked after they had broken apart, panting. Hermione smiled, every worry she had before had ceased. They had just made out like love-sick teenagers, not that it matter to her.

'So we're good?' Draco asked.

'We're good,' answered Hermione, earning another snogging session.

OoOoOo

Someone knocked on his door, and he couldn't help it, but his heart skipped a beat at the thought that it could be her. He knew that he had sounded desperate and soft this afternoon, but it was worth it; she was his again. She had gone home and he had promised her that he would be there tomorrow. He stood up from the couch and walked to the front door. His heart sank as he saw Astoria standing in the doorway.

'How can I help you,' said Draco, trying to remain calm. He had told her how he felt clearly last time. What could she possible want?

'I came here to apologize.' Well, that was something unexpected, thought Draco. Apparently it was readable on his face, because she added: 'For my behaviour. I was obsessed with the idea of being with you. I want to make it up to you; what about dinner?' She looked innocent, but Draco's gut was telling him that something was wrong.

'Why?' he asked sceptically. He didn't like where this was going.

'I don't mean it as a date; just two friends, eating something together.' Although his gut told him otherwise, Draco couldn't see why not; Astoria seemed to have changed. Besides; they were going as friends. What could possibly go wrong?

'Okay. Where do you want to eat?' he asked, and she smiled. It was contagious, because he felt the corners of his mouth lift.

'Pick me up at seven, I will arrange everything,' she said laughing, kissing him on the cheek. Draco raised an eyebrow, which made her giggle. She walked away unto the street. She gave him a wink and apparated. Draco exhaled a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He was a bit curious about tonight, but knowing Astoria, it would be a bit bigger than he would imagine it to be. All of a sudden he started to hesitate; had he really made the right decision.

At the stroke of seven, he flooed to Astoria's living room. He had already fed Timba and he was feeling quite nervous.

'Hello?' he called as he stepped out of the fireplace. He looked around her living room; everything looked designed and matched; straight from one of those home-magazines. Draco didn't really like it; he liked Hermione's house best; at least her house looked lived in. No, he had made himself promise not to think of her tonight.

'Hello Draco,' Astoria said, walking through a door, presumably to the hallway. She was dressed in a short emerald green dress, with an open back, and a low neck. It reached halfway up her thigh.

'What's the occasion? I thought that we would go as friends?' she looked at his white shirt, black jacket, with matching black pants.

'We will, but that doesn't mean that I can't be pretty,' she said and she took his arm. 'Are you ready?' He just nodded and she apparated them away. They ended up in front of the _Dragon's egg_, one of the most famous restaurants in Diagon alley.

He raised an eyebrow: 'Here? You want to eat here?' he thought that this looked too much like a real date and he didn't like where this was heading.

'Well, we have a reputation to withhold. Only the best of the best for us, you know the drill,' she replied and pulled his arm. He followed her into the restaurant and let the waiter bring them to their table. He placed his hand on her back to guide her. It was in the back of the restaurant, for the couple who were obviously in love or for business diners, theirs was neither. But he let it be, knowing that this wasn't the place to make a fuss about something little. It might have been his imagination, but he could swear that he heard camera's snapping pictures. He helped Astoria in her chair, before he sat down himself. It was on the automatic pilot; he had learned these manners from mother's knee. They ordered and when the waited left, Draco didn't know what to say. So he went with the standard.

'How's Daphne doing?' he asked, already regretting this entire plan.

'Oh she's great, she just moved in with Blaise Zabini, but you know him of course.' Astoria went into the details and Draco let her. She kept on talking and he said the occasional 'Hmm', 'Yes', 'Oh really?' to ensure she wouldn't stop talking. She talked until the main course came, and even then she didn't seem to stop. Draco was pretending to listen actively, but all the time his mind wondered back to Hermione. Would she like this restaurant? No, he said he wouldn't think of her anymore, and from now on, he was going stop thinking about her.

'So Draco; how is your work?' Astoria asked when the waiter arrived to take away the plates. Draco asked for some bill, before he started.

'Well, it's work. It has his ups and downs. I hate the paperwork, but love the feeling when you helped someone, you know?' he say Astoria smile, but she didn't mean it. Luckily the bill arrived at that moment, and Draco placed the right amount of money, plus some tip, on the table and stood up, not wanting to be here anymore with her. She wasn't interested in what he did. The almost the entire evening she talked about herself. He hated it when women were so self-focused.

'Let's go,' he said and gently he guided her to the exit, picking up their jackets. They were standing outside of the restaurant when he said: 'Come, I'll bring you home.' He gave her his arm, to get away as soon as possible, when she grabbed his collar and pulled him down, letting their lips meet. Before he could respond she apparated them away, where he pulled away. Dramatically he wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. Before he could say anything, she started to unbutton his shirt and kissed him again. He grabbed her wrists and pushed her away.

'Stop it!' he yelled. 'What do you think you're doing?' She tried to pull her wrists free from his grasp, but he was stronger and held on.

'There was a connection, a spark. I know you felt it too,' she said, her eyes filling with lust.

'What connection? There is nothing between us, when are you going to let that sink in into you thick brain? I thought you changed, I gave you a second chance, but you just ruined it. I mean it; stay away. For. Ever,' he said and as quickly as he could, he took a step back and apparated back to the safety of his apartment, immediately adjusting his wards, so that she couldn't ever enter his house. Luckily that nobody saw that, he thought. Who knew what would happen if someone did?

**A/N Just two chapter left, and then this story is finished. So let me know what you think. Read and Review please!**


	10. X

**A/N I know that it has been a while since I uploaded. Since we are entering the last two weeks of school, the all of the teachers thought it wouldn't stress us to give us a lot of Practical Assignments. I have not been able to write a lot. I know it is short, but it is necessary. Have fun!**

_Did Cupid's arrow hit Draco Malloy?_

_I think, dear readers, that you will agree with me if I say that Draco Malfoy is indeed the most eligible bachelor of Wizarding Britain. Often seen with the most gorgeous witches of Great Britain, he is known, not only for his magnificent work as a healer, but also as a true ladies man. _

_Or was, I should say, since last night. Me, myself and I have discovered that he is no longer single. I am well aware that this hurt a lot of fine young women out there, but alas; you should have been quicker. _

_Whereas last night, I was in the Dragon's eggs, waiting on a very important client when I saw them entering: Draco Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass. Rumours have it that the two were already in an arranged engagement, but broke up after they wanted some more freedom. Well dear readers it is safe to say that cupid found this adorable couple and worked his magic. The two lovebirds were completely engaged with one another, holding each other's hand and whispering sweet nothings into each other's ears. _

_But that wasn't all that convinced me of their pure and profound love; as the well matching couple left the restaurant they sealed the perfect date with an even better kiss. They left together, clearly unable to keep their hands off each other. Well, I can say that it is safe to assume what happened afterwoods..._

_Well dear readers, I will tell you more when I know, but it is not a secret that we can expect a massive, shinny diamond ring on Miss Greengrass' finger anytime soon._

_Reported by your very own, Rita Skeeter. _

**A/N Read and Review!**


	11. XI

**A/N Unfortunately the story came here to an end. I hope that you enjoyed it! Here you go, the last chapter.**

Hermione stared at the empty spot next to her. She was holding her pillow as she was lying in her bed. Tears were streaming down her face. She could have felt more betrayed. Though, it was her fault. She had fallen for his kind words and his charming attitude. She should have known that he was seeing someone else. It was impossible for someone to be with her, exclusively. She wanted to turn around and face the window, but she couldn't. She couldn't help but think that Draco could have been lying at that very spot she was staring at, but instead he chose to lie down in another bed.

He had approached her after she had read the article, claiming that it wasn't true. But Hermione knew better. She had always known better. She had been the one to initiate the kisses and it had made him believe he could have two witches at the same time. After ignoring his letters and his advances for several weeks, it all had stopped. Hermione had stopped reading the Daily Prohet and any other magazine that could possible write something about him. She had heard nothing about him for a week and it both made her feel happy and melancholy.

Everything was her own fault, she had let him. She had actually tried to have a relationship with Draco, but it had failed again. Just like it had with Ron. She wasn't good enough for him, because she was once again cheated on. It must mean something that the men in your life cheat on you, twice in a row. Ginny had been over and had offered her to personally castrate Malfoy, but Hermione thought that that was just a bit too far. It didn't matter now anyway; he had taken his holiday days and left the country, most likely with Astoria. Was he engaged? Or was he already married? She didn't know, and frankly she couldn't know.

Maybe she should do the same thing she did after she discovered that Ron cheated on her? Go to a pub and get herself a guy. But the second she thought that, the notion was already passed. It felt like cheating and cheating was not something Hermione Granger did. She stayed in bed for one hour, and then decided to get up, trying to make something of this otherwise fine Saturday afternoon. She did every chore without complaint. It provided her something other to think about. Ginny had offered to go shopping, but Hermione was afraid of running into Draco when they went out, and she wasn't ready to face him. At work she just filled in the paperwork. None of the other Healers minded, because it would mean less paperwork for them. It only made Hermione feel worse, apparently nobody at work, cared about her.

Suddenly the bell rang. She couldn't help but noticing that her heart skipped a beat thinking it was Draco. She scolded at herself for it. She walked to the door and opened it, surprised at the known stranger standing on her doorstep.

'Blaise Zabini? What are you doing here?' she asked, completely caught off guard.

'Can I come in?' he asked politely and Hermione stepped back letting him enter. She closed the door behind him and led him to her living room.

'Do you want something to drink?' she asked, not really knowing what to do.

'No, don't bother. I don't plan on staying long,' he answered and Hermione just sat down on one of the couches. Zabini sat down on the other. Hermione opened her mouth to ask what he was doing here, but he beat her to it.

'You are wondering why I am here. A couple of weeks ago an article of Rita Skeeter appeared in the Daily Prophet claiming that Draco and Astoria were dating-'

'If that is why you are here, to talk about that, then I will politely ask you to leave,' she interrupted him, not wanting to talk about it.

'Please, just let me finish. I can guarantee you that they are not. You see, I am since quite recently engaged to her sister, Daphne. I know what happens in that family and I know Draco since school. I'm straying off. What I came here to say is that they are not in a relation and that they have never been. I know that you and Draco were seeing each other at the time of the article, and I cannot imagine what this must feel like for you. I know that you have ignored all his apologies and all his explanations. I will not blame you for it, but I must ask you for the sake of both you and Draco do you still like him?'

'No, I don't,' she answered. It was sort of right. She still wanted him, but she didn't like him. She wanted to see him, but hated the very sight of him.

'Do you think of him?'

'All the time.' She didn't know why she was being honest to this Slytherin. She didn't know why she was actually answering, but somehow it made her feel better.

'If you can't get someone out of you head, then maybe that someone is meant to be there, don't you think?' She looked up, what was he saying? But Zabini stood up.

'I must be going, but I hope that you will give this another chance. I must tell you that Draco isn't in Britain. See you later, I hope.' He left the living room and a couple of seconds later she heard the front door open en close. What had he been trying to say? She had been thinking of Draco a lot, so that meant that he was meant to be there, inside of her head. But as what? As a friend, or as an enemy? She didn't know. Zabini had taken the time to come here and talk to her. He also said that he knew Draco quite well. Come to think of it, it seemed as if he wanted them back together. But that was ridiculous. Then again he said that Draco and Greengrass hadn't been dating at all. Could she believe him?

OoOoOo

'_Draco?' she called out to him and he turned around, seeing her soft brown eyes stare at him and he couldn't help but feeling a smile form at his lips. He strode across the room and took her in his arms. She smelled so good and felt so good, right there in his arms, that it was impossible to describe the feeling. _

'_I'm sorry for putting you through that,' she whispered in his ear. _

'_You have nothing to be sorry for,' he answered putting her down again. She smiled and stood on her toes, catching his lips. Draco curled his arm around her waist and pulled her closer, fighting for dominance in the kiss, but she didn't give in. She would never give in. Too quickly for his liking she pulled away._

'_I love you,' he blurted out, not in control of himself. Hermione said nothing and just stared at him. He reached out to touch her face, but his fingers didn't make any contact with her skin. He completely stretched him arm, but she was out of his reach. As she had always been._

Draco woke up, his arm stretched out to something he couldn't have. He didn't want to spent another second in the empty bed and got up to take a shower. Draco put on a towel after hitting the showers and grabbed another to dry his hair. After trying to get her attention for Merlin knows how long, he had her and then Astoria had to come along and destroy everything. She didn't want to talk to him afterwards. He hated her for that. Yet he still kept on trying until he felt like jumping off a cliff. He had rushed to Blaise and begged for his advice, and that says something because Malfoys don't beg. Blaise advised him to leave the country and try to get his mind to focus on something else.

He found that he couldn't. Every living moment he saw in his mind how hurt she looked every time he tried to approach her. Every sleeping moment he tasted her and longed for her, only to wake up in an empty bed. What was the use? He had toyed with erasing his memory, but had quickly disregarded the thought. He wasn't going to be so selfish. He put on his clothes and walked downstairs in the deserted Manor. Sure there were enough paintings and House-Elves, but they were no fun talking to. He was walking towards the library when one of the House-Elves called out to him.

'Master Draco, there is a visitor at the door. She insists she must see you, master. But I say wait miss, I have to ask.'

'Thank you, send her to the library.' The House-Elf disappeared and left Draco to wonder who ever was at the door. He rounded the corner and went through the massive door that gave access to the vast library. Although it wasn't as large as the Manor in Britain, it was enormous. He sat down on one of the couched in front of the fireplace and waited until his guest would arrive. He could only think of one person he wanted to see, but knew that it wouldn't be here. He could hear the door open and someone walked in. He didn't turn around, wanting to be left in his daydream for just a couple of seconds longer. He heard his guest take a deep breath.

'I am so sorry Draco, for everything. I should have believed you, not that awful Rita Skeeter and her lies-'Her voice! He quickly stood up and turned only to find a rambling Hermione Granger. He couldn't believe his eyes. She was still talking very fast and he couldn't catch every word, but he was more mesmerised by the idea that she was actually here. He pinched himself and concluded that he was awake. That would mean that she was here, here with him!

'And then Zabini came and-'

'Zabini?' he asked, Draco couldn't see what Blaise had to do with this.

'Yes him and he said something along the lines as if I thought of you then I would want you. It did take me a long time to realise that, but then I did and I wanted to be with you. Zabini had already said you weren't in Britain and then I though where could you be, and then I thought of Canada, because you said that was your favourite country besides Britain-' He broke he train of words of by crushing his lips on hers. She responded immediately. He had no idea what she had just said, but it didn't matter. She said that she liked him and that she remembered that his second favourite country Canada was and that was what had send him over the edge. He never wanted to part with her again. Too soon she pulled away and he groaned in protest.

'Draco, what I came here to say is that I love you and I want to be with you-'He pressed his lips again against hers, feeling totally ecstatic. Somewhere his mind told him that he should say something back, something he meant, but he couldn't come up with what. All that dominated his mind was this witch in his arms.

'Stay,' he whispered huskily pressing his forehead against hers.

'Always,' she said and she pulled him down to recapture his lips and he tried to gain dominance, but she didn't give in. She never did and she never would.

**A/N For the very last time, you can tell me what you want. So please read and Review!**


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